


parallels

by renardroi



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Blood, Body Horror, Drowning, Gen, Horror, Mild Gore, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 17:07:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7447141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renardroi/pseuds/renardroi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>i prompted sparxflame on tumblr with "hey baby talk to me about weird nightmare parallels with percy and vax. drowning in pools of blood. being alone forever. death everywhere except for themselves. wink wonk. wink wink. inexplicable nightmare logic. wink." and they gave me a wonderful fic so this is my reply. </p><p>posted here because my tumblr theme is shit. ;c</p>
            </blockquote>





	parallels

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sparxwrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparxwrites/gifts).



> [check out sparx's post here ;)](http://sparxwrites.tumblr.com/post/147152023929/hey-baby-talk-to-me-about-weird-nightmare)

vex takes him by the hand and from their home, her head high and her shoulders squared - but her steps betray her uncertainty in these foreign forests, on this unknown dirt. and the sky seems to grow more and more distant the further they walk. vax tries to find her face, to look into her eyes and reassure her as she’s reassured him, but she will not turn from the path, will not look at him. and in the same moment as he seeks her eyes, he turns to look behind him, and watches his home drown in vines and deep deep wood. her hand in his is the only thing he can feel. 

he sees them run, watches them from his own eyes, from an invisible stranger’s eyes, watches them dart past, from the stars, watching them wind through ruin and waste. his sister’s hand is warm and suddenly cool - and wrong. he turns to her, away from his past, and he is holding the beak of a monstrous blackbird while it pecks hungrily at his peeling flesh. 

soft feathers spill into his throat. 

the bird screeches anger as he recoils. forfeit. forfeit. debts to be paid. a death is a debt is a death is a debt is a death. forfeit!

it spits blood. it spits percy’s own words back at him with a spite only he himself has felt. the birds screams sound eerily like a memory - a friend, a sister, the end of all things and all people. his voice is a meager whistling sound in his throat, dry as bone and just as soft. and its all he can do to watch the blood, from a dying raven’s mouth, pool at his feet. 

he turns, as a cold hand touches his shoulder. a woman - older than he remembers, more rotted than he remembers, taller than he remembers, as he gazes up at her from down on his knees, like a knight, like a sinner, like a son, blood as cold as ice soaking his legs. as he speaks, the tunnel disappearing behind her head is the most beautiful wreath of shadow, the most beautiful halo he has ever beheld, and the blood she has swallowed comes spilling out of her mouth.

you killed me, us, she whispers, forgive me. her hair turns black in spots, like mold taking over her, but it shines and waves like she stands in water. she cannot meet his eyes.

death takes only the weak, the lady tells vax, her mouth stained red and a grimace on her face. she holds his sister in her arms and looks down, as if she’s only just noticed the girl. give her to me. let her die. the lady wears a crown of woven bones and black feathers.

the light changes and percy stands in her place, holding a limp vex by the throat. give her to me. i could learn - so much. vax is down on his knees - hands and knees, begging as the blood rises to his waist. 

you killed her after all, vax. forgive me. 

shadows and smoke erupt from percy’s eyes, filling the cavern they’re in as vax struggles against the onslaught of blood, trying to reach his sister. black powder fills his lungs and dusts his clothes as something monstrous emerges from the darkness. he thinks dragon, but it is so twisted and wrong that he must be mistaken. too many eyes, too many mouths, too many. and his sister is nowhere to be seen. 

percy! she calls to him. her screams echo around him, young. it comes from everywhere. but she’s nowhere to be seen. the blood is up to his chest, splashing against his neck as he struggles, the tide trying to tip him over. the shadow monster looms over the blood sea, shrieking displeasure - pleasure. his gun - the list - floats toward him, strangely calm and slow in the tumultuous sea. the monster does not stop screaming. a sly whisper slips out from between its teeth. a death is a debt is a death. 

vax loses his footing for but a moment and the blood fills his mouth, harsh and metallic and sweet like honeymeade. it freezes his soul, it’s so cold. but warm wings - too many for one bird - curl around his shivering body, like he’s embraced by dying embers. vax. vax. the raven queen’s voice sounds oddly familial. i am here. i am always here, she whispers. and he sleeps easier. 

while percy drowns in the sea. 


End file.
